Pentagon approves diversion of military construction funds for Trump’s wall

Pentagon approves diversion of military construction funds for Trump’s wall

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Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper agreed Tuesday to free up $3.6 billion from the Pentagon budget for President Trump’s border wall by effectively defunding 127 military construction projects using emergency authorities.



Esper determined that the use of the military construction funds was necessary to support American forces deployed to the southern border with Mexico under the national emergency that Trump declared in mid-February. The formal determination allows Trump, under an obscure statute in the federal code overseeing the military, to tap the funds appropriated for other purposes without sign-off from Congress.



The Pentagon declined to disclose which projects would be defunded. Chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Rath Hoffman said the list would be made available later this week after the Defense Department notifies lawmakers with affected projects in their districts and foreign embassies with affected projects in their countries.



During a briefing Tuesday, top Pentagon officials said the $3.6 billion will fund 11 projects providing 175 miles of new or reconstructed wall along the border with Mexico and help reduce the need for American troops deployed there. Barriers will be reinforced or replaced with bigger walls in some places, while stretches of wall will be built in other locations. Among the projects the money will fund is a new wall along the U.S. military’s Barry M. Goldwater Bombing Range in Arizona, which abuts the border with Mexico, officials said.



“This funding will all go to adding significantly new capabilities to [the Department of Homeland Security’s] ability to prevent illegal entry,” Hoffman said. “In areas where we go from, say, a vehicle barrier to a 30-foot wall, we will have a significantly new set of capabilities that didn’t exist previously.”



The Pentagon will take the $3.6 billion from 127 military construction projects that Congress has funded in recent years. About half of the $3.6 billion will come from projects within the United States and its territories; the other half will come from projects the U.S. military was planning in foreign countries.



The Pentagon said the projects weren’t being canceled and wouldn’t be delayed so long as Congress agreed to “backfill” the funds and again appropriate money for them.



“The way we are describing it is really ‘deferred,’ ” Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Elaine McCusker said. “If Congress were to backfill the projects in our request, none of the projects would be delayed. But we do realize that this could cause some delay. They’re definitely not canceled.”



Democrats have balked at the suggestion, noting that Congress funded the projects in question and shouldn’t have to “backfill” and fund them again.



“The Administration’s irresponsible decision to transfer funds from appropriated U.S. military construction makes America less safe and dishonors the Constitution,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement. “The President is negating the Constitution’s most fundamental principle, the separation of powers, by assaulting our Congressional ‘power of the purse,’ and is undermining the oath of office we take to protect and defend the Constitution and the American people.”



 She said canceling “military construction projects at home and abroad will undermine our national security and the quality of life and morale of our troops, making America less secure.”



Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, warned that future presidents would try to tap money for their own desired initiatives through emergency declarations if courts don’t rule against the administration’s border emergency.



“With this move, President Trump is shortchanging our troops and taxpayers and forcing them to bear the burden of his broken, preposterous campaign promise,” Reed said. “Defense spending is supposed to be for national defense. There is no credible reason to divert these funds, and doing so in this manner could disrupt national security efforts.”



Military construction money finances projects ranging from renovating schools on U.S. military bases to expanding naval piers to accommodate more submarines. An analysis by The Washington Post earlier this year found that projects in Puerto Rico and initiatives to help European nations deter Russia were particularly vulnerable to being defunded.